Barbados Credit Suisse Loan: Ex-Credit Suisse Bankers Arrested

A perennial political platform issue in Barbados has been the levelling of corruption accusations at the other by the BLP and DLP. While it makes for good theatre – the reality is that when the campaign dust settles nobody is ever held accountable. It is business as usual. The arrest by US authorities of former minister Donville Inniss on money laundering charges does not qualify.

A hotly debated issue in Barbados has been the $450 million Credit Suisse loan signed off by the former minister of finance Chris Sinckler. A contentious clause in the terms and conditions of the loan states that the interest rate will increase when there is a downgrade by international rating agencies. With the several downgrades Barbados has attracted in recent years millions of dollars has been paid by Barbados from dwindling foreign reserves to Credit Suisse. There was no appetite (is no appetite) to lend Barbados money by international lenders because of our junk status rating now selected default.

The inability to hold public officials accountable continues to be a challenge for Barbados. Read Auditor General reports since 2006 which hint at malfeasance. This blogmaster refuses to accept that local officials are so puritanical in behaviour they leave no room for malfeasance to occur.

A relates story carried in the international media reports that Credit Suisse bankers have been arrested in London while the US seeks their extradition on charges that they bribed Mozambican officials before supplying loans to state owned companies there. Should sensible Barbadians assume that the circumstances surrounding the former government’s decision to get a loan from Credit Suisse in December 2013 – at a high interest rate instead of opting for the IMF which lends at about 1 percent – is being investigated?

Ex-Credit Suisse bankers arrested over ‘$2bn fraud scheme’

Three former Credit Suisse bankers have been arrested over their alleged role in a $2bn (£1.5bn) fraud scheme connected to firms in Mozambique, according to US authorities.

The men have been released on bail in London while the US seeks their extradition.

The scheme allegedly involved loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique.

Two others, including the country’s former finance minister, have also been arrested.

The former employees of the Swiss investment bank were arrested in London on Thursday.

The three – Andrew Pearse, Surjan Singh, and Detelina Subeva – were charged with conspiring to violate US anti-bribery law, money laundering and securities fraud in an indictment issued by a US District Court in New York.

Prosecutors say that through a series of financial transactions between approximately 2013 and 2016, they created fraudulent maritime projects and used state-owned companies in Mozambique as fronts to raise $2bn.

Some of the investors defrauded included US nationals, the indictment says.

It added that they “intentionally diverted portions of the loan proceeds to pay at least $200m in bribes and kickbacks to themselves, Mozambican government officials and others”.

The state-owned companies missed more than $700m in loan payments after defaulting in 2016 and 2017, the indictment adds.

In a statement, Credit Suisse made clear that no action had been taken against the bank itself.

“The indictment alleges that the former employees worked to defeat the bank’s internal controls, acted out of a motive of personal profit, and sought to hide these activities from the bank,” it said.

The US has agreed extradition treaties with more than 100 countries. These treaties can require “the surrender of persons who have committed crimes in foreign countries”.

@Mariposa,
We are ten years in to a global recovery cycle and most experts believe we are heading for at best a global slowdown, or worst a deep recession. What is BERT’s thinking on this? Is 2019 still the year that Barbados returns to prosperity? Has Prof Avinash Persaud got a view on this?

By the way, still waiting for someone to tell me if pre-2008 the Arthur government was in discussions with Credit Suisse about loans for any purpose?

Why are the failed DPP and the COP not investigating? Because Barrow´s legal system is failed and demands a “complaint”. If we follow this insane logic, slavery in Barbados was not a crime at all since nobody filed in a “complaint”.

The UK’s City watchdog has begun a full-blown investigation into the working culture at Royal Bank of Canada in London after dozens of former employees complained over their treatment, several people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
Inquiries started as a less formal fact-finding exercise last summer when a handful of former staff claimed to have been dismissed after highlighting legal and compliance issues over several years.
They stepped forward after one former employee, a currencies trader, won a case for unfair dismissal, in which he claimed to have been treated poorly after raising concerns over what he saw as a “box-ticking” compliance culture.
An appeal on that case is still pending. Since then, the group has grown rapidly. The step-up by the Financial Conduct Authority comes as the watchdog takes a tougher stance on banking culture and the treatment of whistleblowers. The launch of an official investigation means that if the watchdog finds wrongdoing, the bank faces a substantial fine and the possibility of sanctions for senior managers.(Quote)